Steam-cooker



J. E. HILL.v STEAM coQKBR.

(No Model.)

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Patented Aug. 28, 1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

JOEL E. HILL, OF `WALNUT COVE, NORTH CAROLINA.

ST-EAIVIFCQOKER.

ISIIECIISICIATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 525,147, dated August 28, 1894-.Y

Application filed February 16,1894, Serial No. 500,378, ,(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,` JOEL E. HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Walnut Cove, in the county of Stokes and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Cookers; and I do hereby declare that the followingr is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of cook-v ing apparatus popularly known as steam steam. These cookers are made mainly in two styles, one style comprising a boiler and a series of superposed cooking chambers, each having communication with a steam pipe or passage leading from the boiler, and the other style comprising a cabinet having in its lower part a water chamber or boiler in which steam is generated, and divided above said boiler by horizontal partiiionsinto a series of independent compartments, each communicating with a steam pipe or passage, and each provided With a drawer for theY reception of the food to be cooked, the several drawers constituting a vertical series of cookingchambers.

My invention relates to this last-named style of apparatus and involves details of construction, as will be hereinafter fully described. y A f In the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention and form a part of this specification, Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections, taken at right angles to f each other, through the apparatus.Ik Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of a section of the case or cabinet. Fig. 3a is a view of one of the valves. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one of the drawers. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a removable cap to be applied to the front of the cabinet or case over .the drawer to tightly close and At its front (or, if preferred, at the side)it is provided with a pipe or nozzle b communicating with theinteriorthrough an opening cat or near-the bottom and extending to a suffi- .cient height to'prevent overflow when the boiler is full, the said pipe or nozzle vbeingv for the purpose of lling the boiler, the' water being introduced therethrough. This nozzle is closed by a cock or stopper to conne the steam withinthe apparatus. At the through which steam is admitted at pleasure to any or all of the drawers or cooking cham! bers. The drawings show three drawers or cooking chambers, marked respectively, 1, 2

and 3, but it isto be understood that thel height of the cabinet may be increased to adapt it to receive any requisite number of drawers according to the different varietiesL of food to be cooked simultaneously. `Heretofore these cabinets or cases have been divided into separate compartments by horizon-` tal partitions which precluded the illing of' any drawer above the level of the top thereof, so that the capacity of every drawer was limited. These cookers are made in different sizes to meet the demands of diierent sized families, but it sometimes becomes necessary or expedient to v'cook more than the usual lamount of. food in one or more of the drawers,

and with the construction above'referred to, such occasions can only be met by providing at the outset a cooker'of'larger capacity than the ordinary needs of the family require. Sup posing, for example, that it is desired to cook a fowl, or a piece of meat too large to be placed entirely within the drawer, so that a portion would project above the top thereof, it would be impossible to introduce the drawerinto its compartment. Now, to provide for such an emergency, I lpropose to dispense with the horizontal partitions and to replace the same with side cleats or ways et to sustain and guide the drawers, leaving the drawer space, above the boiler, open and unobstructed from top to bottom. The drawers then slide freely on the cleats and their fronts, which are wider than their sides by the thickness of the cleats, iit tightly together and form close joints to pre- IOO vent the escape of steam. YIn order to still further confine the steam with a view of creatlng pressure and thus obtaining and utilizing a higher degree of heat, I provide a flanged cap 5 adapted to be applied to the front of the cooking in another drawer, I interpose be tween each of the several drawers and the walls of the cabinet a packing to close the space and prevent the steam from rising past the same. This packing marked 6 in the drawings may be applied either to the walls of the cabinet or to the drawers, and it may be made of any suitable material adapted to the purpose, such, for example, as asbestos cloth.

In the drawings the packing is shown applied in strips around the drawers near the tops and bottoms thereof, and in orderto retain the strips in place I form in the walls of the drawers, grooves, channels or depressions 7 for their reception. They may, however, be secured in any preferred manner, ,as by rivets, staples or similar fastening devices. It will be observed that the packing strips extend across the fronts of the drawers as well as along the sides and across the rear ends. This is for the purpose of packing the space between the drawers andthe cap 5 to prevent steam from passing from one drawer to another, as above explained, and also for the purpose of more electually confining the steam by the application of the cap 5 i0 raise the pressure and the degree of heat.

Each drawer has in and through its rear wall an opening 8, the openings in the several drawers coinciding with similar openings 9 in the rear wall of the cabinet, said coincident openin gs communicating with, and admitting steam into the drawers from the steam pipe or passage d. As is well known some kinds of food require more cooking than others, and therefore it is expedient to provide means for shutting off the steam from any given drawer in order to avoid overcooking the food therein while that in the other drawers is being finished. For this purposel provide aseries of valves l0 (one for each opening 9) located in the steam passage d opposite the openings 9, the stems of said valves projecting out through the wall of said passage, as represented in Fig.` 2. The valves 10 mayconsist of fiat disks of wood or metal faced with some soft material, as, for example, asbestos cloth, able to withstand heat. The valves are held normally closed by springs 12, arranged to press them inward. The projecting ends of the stems 11 are bent into U-shape, as shown in Fig. 3i', the widthof the bend being such that when turned to the proper position the end will pass the Seide of the passage d and allow the valve to be pressed .forward bvthesprisg, but when the vslve is drswnbsok spd turned ope-fourth around in either direction the beni end will abut against the outside of the psssase and hold the valve open. against Ithe sotiou of the spring, An importent feature of the apparatus thus desoribed, is that by reeson of the omission of the horizontal prurti-` tions between the drawers,'the latter may be filled above their tops, the next upperdrawer being then removed from the esse or turned upside down over the contents of the lower adisoeot drawer It it be removed from the oase the letter `will be closed, ssd .the steam confined, by the esp 5, as shove explained, It will be sees. that by .removing all of the upper drswers and closing the .front by the oep 5 the whole .may be thrown into s single compartment the size of the outside oase` Having sow described my invention, whstl claim is@ i In s stes/r11, cooker, the oombioatiop of .sesso or cabinet, s boiler in the lower part thereof, s steerspssssge rising from the .boiler along one side of the esse and having openings into the seme, valves for said openings provided with projecting stems beet as shown, the best portions adapted to pass the side of the steam passage or to abut against the seme when the valveis drawn back,as shown and described.

In testimony whereof Iaix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

H. W. STERLING, THEO. L. GATGHEL. 

